Artificial Intelligence

AI: Deepfakes

Should deepfakes be comprehensively banned to prevent harm or does regulation threaten free speech and enable censorship?

Published 2 hours ago

Context

Above: Deepfake, facial tracking, detection and recognition technology. Image credit: SmileStudioAP/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

Deepfake technology poses an urgent threat requiring comprehensive legal action across the entire supply chain. Nonconsensual AI-generated pornography has surged in recent years, the vast majority of which targeting women and minors. Deepfake fraud has also substantially increased, threatening individuals and businesses through identity theft. Democratic processes face unprecedented danger as half the world's population approaches elections amid rapidly spreading political deepfakes. There is no other option than banning this harmful technology entirely.

ControlAI on X Openletter

Establishment-critical narrative

Despite legitimate concerns about abuse and consent, deepfake regulation risks becoming a tool for censorship rather than protection. Governments threatening platforms that champion free speech while ignoring AI image generators reveal the true motive: controlling information. Restricting deepfakes ignores their complexity as tools for satire and creativity within public discourse, yet heavy-handed restrictions mirror authoritarian internet censorship systems. The rush to regulate may enable governments to suppress dissent under the guise of combating misinformation, threatening fundamental liberties.

Unherd

Basil the Great on X Research Gate